Vehicle break-ins continue; truck, trailer and equipment taken

Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 8:33 p.m.

Thieves have targeted unlocked cars. They've pilfered potted plants from front yards. Last week, they became more brazen.

Locked doors didn't stop them — they cut their way in. The threat of surveillance cameras did not sway them. Thieves took their time cleaning out the front seat of a packed truck, and one man's livelihood was stolen.

Brodie Foster, owner of The Other Side Property Maintenance, stepped out of his Chadwick Square apartment July 8 to find his truck and trailer full of $40,000 worth of landscaping equipment stolen. Within a couple of hours, his friend found his truck, but his trailer and everything he needed for his business remains missing. Foster's equipment was not insured.

He called the police. Two other larcenies were reported in the city limits July 8, one on Greenville Highway and one on Spartanburg Highway. On Sunday, a break-in and larceny was reported on Hillside Commons Drive at 9:15 a.m.; another breaking and entering was attempted on Spartanburg Highway at 3:30 p.m., followed by a breaking and entering on Greenville Highway two hours later, according to police logs.

To halt the climbing number of vehicle break-ins, Hendersonville police have encouraged citizens to lock their doors and keep valuables out of sight. Citizens have also been on guard in their gardens after several potted plants and garden features have gone missing over the past several weeks.

Although arrests have been made in some of the vehicle break-ins, the garden bandit has yet to be caught.

Foster has offered a $500 reward for anyone with information that can lead him to his equipment. He put a call out on social media sites. He's hit the street, knocking on doors near where the truck was found on Old Spartanburg Highway near Brooklyn Avenue and from the parking lot where it was stolen. He has studied security camera footage at the BP gas station near where his truck was found.

Foster has called every landscaping company, mow and repair shop he knows to ask them to be on the lookout. He has scoured eBay, Craigslist and yard sale websites for the first sign of his equipment. Regardless of prosecution, he said he just wants his stuff back.

“I've had zero sleep,” he said. “I just can't sit and wait for it to come back.”

Foster suspects his 1999 Dodge Ram truck and trailer were stolen from his apartment around 5:30 a.m. His truck was found, but most of the equipment it carried and the black high-mesh-side 16-18 foot landscape trailer with a wooden floorboard it towed were gone.

Foster suspects the thief must have been familiar with the apartment complex he has lived in for five years.

“You have to come through Chadwick to even see my truck,” he said, adding that the thieves probably took their time breaking in.

Foster said he moves a lot of the equipment from his trailer into the cab of his truck, which would have required the thief to move some of the items in order to drive it away. He also said he always locks his truck's doors after he comes home from a day of work. But the locked doors didn't hide the cab full of expensive equipment and didn't stop the determined crooks.

“They broke into my truck on the side door... They cut a hole through my passenger door,” he said. “Even if you lock your doors, it don't mean you're safe around here anymore, if they can get in cars like that.”

When he found his truck, its windows were rolled down, he said. The cabin's interior light was missing. His change, sunglasses and $20 to $30 worth of scratch-off tickets were gone, he added, but a $500 chainsaw was left on the front seat.

With the missing trailer went his $12,000 Cub Cadet M48 Tank yellow and black, commercial zero-turn mower with 52 hours of drive time on it. But the thieves took more than that.

“It's not like they just took a mower, they took my entire business,” Foster said. “Everything I've worked for, for three years, is gone... That's how I support my family.”

Foster started his company with an old mower in the back of his truck. Over the years, he built his business up with “the best of everything you could buy.” Now, he says he finds himself starting from scratch with a new, smaller mower he purchased after the theft, but he isn't alone.

With about three months left in the season, one of his customers offered him a brand-new mower last week. A local landscaping company offered him the use of their extra equipment.

“There are nice people out there,” he said. “I just pray somebody's going to call me and say, hey, I seen your stuff for sale.”

<p>Thieves have targeted unlocked cars. They've pilfered potted plants from front yards. Last week, they became more brazen.</p><p>Locked doors didn't stop them — they cut their way in. The threat of surveillance cameras did not sway them. Thieves took their time cleaning out the front seat of a packed truck, and one man's livelihood was stolen.</p><p>Brodie Foster, owner of The Other Side Property Maintenance, stepped out of his Chadwick Square apartment July 8 to find his truck and trailer full of $40,000 worth of landscaping equipment stolen. Within a couple of hours, his friend found his truck, but his trailer and everything he needed for his business remains missing. Foster's equipment was not insured. </p><p>He called the police. Two other larcenies were reported in the city limits July 8, one on Greenville Highway and one on Spartanburg Highway. On Sunday, a break-in and larceny was reported on Hillside Commons Drive at 9:15 a.m.; another breaking and entering was attempted on Spartanburg Highway at 3:30 p.m., followed by a breaking and entering on Greenville Highway two hours later, according to police logs.</p><p>To halt the climbing number of vehicle break-ins, Hendersonville police have encouraged citizens to lock their doors and keep valuables out of sight. Citizens have also been on guard in their gardens after several potted plants and garden features have gone missing over the past several weeks.</p><p>Although arrests have been made in some of the vehicle break-ins, the garden bandit has yet to be caught.</p><p>Foster has offered a $500 reward for anyone with information that can lead him to his equipment. He put a call out on social media sites. He's hit the street, knocking on doors near where the truck was found on Old Spartanburg Highway near Brooklyn Avenue and from the parking lot where it was stolen. He has studied security camera footage at the BP gas station near where his truck was found.</p><p>Foster has called every landscaping company, mow and repair shop he knows to ask them to be on the lookout. He has scoured eBay, Craigslist and yard sale websites for the first sign of his equipment. Regardless of prosecution, he said he just wants his stuff back.</p><p>“I've had zero sleep,” he said. “I just can't sit and wait for it to come back.”</p><p>Foster suspects his 1999 Dodge Ram truck and trailer were stolen from his apartment around 5:30 a.m. His truck was found, but most of the equipment it carried and the black high-mesh-side 16-18 foot landscape trailer with a wooden floorboard it towed were gone. </p><p>Foster suspects the thief must have been familiar with the apartment complex he has lived in for five years.</p><p>“You have to come through Chadwick to even see my truck,” he said, adding that the thieves probably took their time breaking in.</p><p>Foster said he moves a lot of the equipment from his trailer into the cab of his truck, which would have required the thief to move some of the items in order to drive it away. He also said he always locks his truck's doors after he comes home from a day of work. But the locked doors didn't hide the cab full of expensive equipment and didn't stop the determined crooks.</p><p>“They broke into my truck on the side door... They cut a hole through my passenger door,” he said. “Even if you lock your doors, it don't mean you're safe around here anymore, if they can get in cars like that.”</p><p>When he found his truck, its windows were rolled down, he said. The cabin's interior light was missing. His change, sunglasses and $20 to $30 worth of scratch-off tickets were gone, he added, but a $500 chainsaw was left on the front seat.</p><p>With the missing trailer went his $12,000 Cub Cadet M48 Tank yellow and black, commercial zero-turn mower with 52 hours of drive time on it. But the thieves took more than that.</p><p>“It's not like they just took a mower, they took my entire business,” Foster said. “Everything I've worked for, for three years, is gone... That's how I support my family.”</p><p>Items missing from the truck and trailer include a CB radio, three Stihl FS-70 weedeaters, two Stihl BR-600 backpack blowers, an 18-inch pole chainsaw, a 22-inch Husqvarna chainsaw, a backpack sprayer, 4-5 gas cans, a Garmin GPS unit, and “every hand tool I had.” </p><p>Foster started his company with an old mower in the back of his truck. Over the years, he built his business up with “the best of everything you could buy.” Now, he says he finds himself starting from scratch with a new, smaller mower he purchased after the theft, but he isn't alone.</p><p>With about three months left in the season, one of his customers offered him a brand-new mower last week. A local landscaping company offered him the use of their extra equipment.</p><p>“There are nice people out there,” he said. “I just pray somebody's going to call me and say, hey, I seen your stuff for sale.”</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>